"Being a crusty Swe-death record, Decreation draws heavily on Entombed, Dismember, Nihilist, Grave, and the like, with the modern touch of Black Breath and their ilk. There’s little else to say..." Shortest. Review. Ever.[Give in to your anger...]

"Hard rock not-quites Buckcherry were never really that important a band, releasing one popular song that was vulgar, catchy, and immensely irritating. I was surprised, then, when frontman Josh Todd formed Josh Todd and the Conflict (hereafter JTC) and released their debut record Year of the Tiger." Conflicted.[Give in to your anger...]

"It’s strangely liberating to write about a high profile record after its official release when, presumably, all those interested in hearing it have done so and made their decisions on its merits or lack thereof. Such is the case with The Haunted’s new record, Strength in Numbers. Those who are longtime fans will already be enjoying their disc or LP, and those on the fence will likely not be swayed in their opinion by the prose of a halfway decent writer on the internet, but instead by another run-through on Spotify." Revisiting old haunts.[Give in to your anger...]

"Deathcore, in its peak popularity, was essentially the dubstep of metal. Structured around a massive breakdown in the same way dubstep is structured around its 808 drop, the prototypical deathcore song was a kinetic experience designed to ratchet up the tension until a cathartic release blasts forth. This compositional style is extremely limiting, which is why both sub-genres will (and arguably already are) seen as flashes in the pan." Pan's Labyrinth. [Give in to your anger...]

"Desecresy is conservative by way of being aware they’ve inherited something good, to crib the excellent contemporary philosopher Sir Roger Scruton’s understanding of the term. Desecresy has inherited the Finnish melodic death-doom sound, and is obviously aware of its goodness along with its inner workings." Inherit the icy wind.[Give in to your anger...]

"An interesting anecdote I saw told was a fine–art professor’s first exercise with his Master’s students. He shows them a Jackson Pollock painting, and asks them to write why it is good. After receiving the wonderfully pretentious responses, the professor reveals that the “Pollock painting” was actually his apron from his studio, hopefully teaching the students that there may be more to judging good and bad art than feelings." Smock-core![Give in to your anger...]

"For me, Pathology was the gateway to slam. I still recall the first time I ever experienced their music: Boxing Day, years ago, I went to the now-defunct record store Zeus in search of some new metal to feast my ears upon. I saw Legacy of the Ancients with its striking cover, adorned with a sticker saying that Pathology “represents more death than a mass grave in Columbia.” My thoughts in a word: sold." What do we have to do to put you in this mass grave today?[Give in to your anger...]

"It’s easy to wonder if death metal is currently in the midst of an existential crisis. In one sense, it perpetually is; its obsession with mortality is such that everyone from Martin Heidegger to Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine would tell the genre to chill out a bit. On the other hand, the acts that find themselves popular with critics wear a different sort of existential crisis on their sleeves, one of existential malaise. As one should always be wary of virtually everything that critics (along with intellectuals and “experts”) tell them, everyone ought to be extremely cautious about the “future” of death metal and the current state of the classic sound. Norway’s Execration is one of the bands in the thick of this existential crisis." Musical Pokemon.[Give in to your anger...]

"In terms of sound, little has changed in the Origin camp since Antithesis. The excessive hyper-blasting, the tandem bass and lead guitar sweeps and taps, the switch to chunkier riffs before going back into hyper-technicality; it’s all here in fine enough form. Of course it’s more restrained than Brain Drill (really, what isn’t?), but Origin still traffics in very clinical chaos." Legacy of br00tality.[Give in to your anger...]

"“Militant men in peaceful times attack themselves.” So says and shrieks Maniac during “Vortex Void of Inhumanity,” the introduction to Mayhem’s 1997 EP Wolf’s Lair Abyss." War on all, is all.[Give in to your anger...]